Chapter 100: Trade Route
Shui Ping nodded.
“I plan to give it a try. I’ve been staying in the Sect with no progress, and my artifact refining often fails.”
Du Lixin nodded upon hearing this, “With Huanli accompanying you, I can rest assured.”
She glanced at Shui Ping again and said, “Your Master intends to go into seclusion.”
Shui Ping blinked, “Master, are you going into seclusion now?”
Actually, low-level disciples rarely went into seclusion.
Because cultivators at the Foundation Establishment Stage only had a lifespan of about a hundred years, and Du Lixin, being in the Late Foundation Establishment Stage, could only live up to two hundred years with great effort.
Going into seclusion for several years or over a decade was not necessary.
She was still very young.
At forty years old, she looked no different from a seventeen or eighteen-year-old young girl.
In this remote region, she could be considered to have exceptional talent.
Only as one’s cultivation increased would the need for seclusion to pass the long years become greater.
Du Lixin nodded, “I seem to have had an epiphany. This seclusion might take a long time, perhaps around five years. Shui Ping, you are my disciple, do not disappoint your Master.”
Shui Ping was shocked, “Are you about to form a Golden Core?”
Forming a Golden Core meant reaching the Golden Core Stage.
Once one entered the Golden Core Stage, their cultivation would increase, and their lifespan would extend to over five hundred years. At that point, the Flying Sparrow Sect would become even more powerful!
“It’s just an epiphany, not a certainty. After I come out, I will still need to go to Cave Demon Valley.”
Du Lixin said, “Unless there’s an urgent matter, I won’t come out. Shui Ping, take care of yourself.”
Shui Ping said worriedly, “But the Spirit Fox Sect…”
“The Spirit Fox Sect is very far from us. The reach of that Demonic Cultivator at the Golden Core Stage doesn’t extend this far. Moreover, the reason for the Spirit Fox Sect’s destruction was a personal vendetta.”
Du Lixin knew more information, so she wasn’t too worried, “If anything happens, a True Man will return. You don’t need to worry. Go and train yourself well. When I come out, I hope to see that your Foundation Establishment is stable, and you have at least a grasp of reaching the middle stage.”
Shui Ping lowered her head and said, “Yes.”
“Also,” Du Lixin couldn’t help but advise, “Don’t associate too much with those disciples from the Longevity Sect. Spending all your time with mortals and getting involved in their worldly business, earning that little bit of money, what kind of behavior is that? Is that something a cultivator should do?”
“…I don’t,” Shui Ping blinked and said, “I hardly talk to them.”
“That’s why I’m just reminding you!”
Seeing Shui Ping’s slightly wronged expression, Du Lixin sighed almost imperceptibly, “Before you go for training, go and see your mother again.”
Shui Ping’s eyes brightened slightly.
After Du Lixin left, Shui Ping, with a cheerful mood, descended the mountain on a flying magic treasure.
Wang’an County was indeed already being demolished.
Those disciples from the Longevity Sect were quick, using magic to dismantle most of the houses.
Only one place was used to build temporary dormitory buildings.
They called them dormitories.
Now Shui Ping’s mother had also been moved to that place.
She didn’t know how the people from the pharmacies agreed to let the Longevity Sect act so recklessly.
The dormitory building that was erected was very tall, a seven-story ancient building.
In front of this building was a large courtyard. Inside the courtyard, it was unclear what methods the cultivators had used, but the temperature inside was indeed higher than in other places. Some mortals, wearing fur clothing, could come out and move around.
When Shui Ping arrived, she easily spotted her mother talking to a neighboring aunt.
“Mom!”
Shui Ping called out.
The mortal woman turned her head, saw Shui Ping, and her eyes lit up, “Oh, Ping’er is here?”
Seeing her mother, Shui Ping’s nose still felt a little sore.
By her calculations, it had been two months since they last met.
Shui Ping’s mother was holding a piece of paper with drawings on it. Shui Ping went over and asked, “What are you doing?”
“Making clothes for the cultivators,” Shui Ping’s mother, Zhao Lan, hadn’t seen her daughter for two months, but she wasn’t as anxious as before. Upon seeing her, her eyes welled up with tears. This time, she seemed busy and immediately said, “The cultivators from the Longevity Sect said they don’t like the current clothes and gave me some design drafts… uh, that’s what they said. They told me to study them carefully, and once the cloth shop opens, I’ll be the steward there and can earn wages, two low-grade spirit stones a month!”
This amount of spirit stones was not insignificant.
Zhao Lan used to make clothes, but it was just a way to pass the time, occasionally mending things for her neighbors.
When the players discovered her local craftsmanship, she was immediately recruited by the designer player Tang Qiuxiang.
The main reason was that Wang’an County didn’t have a large population, and they were short of people for their great development.
It was difficult to attract people to this damned place. For mortals in other areas to come and join, the Longevity Sect would have to develop their territory first.
Shui Ping’s eyes widened, “They give you spirit stones?”
It was not easy for mortals to obtain a single spirit stone.
They had to do business for a long time to accumulate one.
Mortals could also use spirit stones to buy medicine from cultivators, as those pharmacies did not accept the currency circulating among mortals.
“Yes,” Zhao Lan was overjoyed, “Because I’m the supervisor, they give me so much.”
Shui Ping was indeed a bit bewildered.
Cultivators hiring mortals usually paid them with a first-order pill after a long period of work, which was enough to dismiss them. The act of giving spirit stones was incredibly unbelievable.
Afterward, she saw a group of Longevity Sect disciples standing in front of the courtyard, discussing something intensely.
“Damn it, we hunted too many demonic beasts before, and Wang’an County can barely handle it now!”
“There are only so many cultivators, and only so many spirit stones. Wang’an County is too small. We must establish trade routes with other Sects.”
The Longevity Sect didn’t have many people currently, but they produced a lot of goods.
The most important thing was their terrifying speed in killing demonic beasts.
One Wang’an County couldn’t accommodate such a large supply.
Currently, the only goods from Wang’an County that could be circulated elsewhere were from the pharmacies and the shops that bought demonic beast spirit materials.
The former was opened by rogue cultivators, and the latter was opened by disciples of the Flying Sparrow Sect.
However, even the Flying Sparrow Sect disciples couldn’t handle it. By the time the heavy snow ended and players could travel to First Mountain, there would be an overflow of demonic beast materials.
Unless they hunted higher-level beasts.
Trade routes were dangerous, but they also meant opportunities to go to bigger places.
The matter of Shuitan finding Zhai Xiaotian to go to Liuxian City was no longer a secret. The latter enjoyed drinking, and the Daoist Priest, with his thick skin, managed to build a good relationship with Zhai Xiaotian by promising to brew him stronger wine in the future without charging any money.
Zhai Xiaotian told them he had a way to send players to Liuxian City for business, but they could only stay for a short period. As for what they sold and whether there would be problems, it was up to the players themselves.
His condition was that he must be the first to taste any wine produced by the Longevity Sect in the future.
The players readily agreed.
As for other small Sects, like the Peach Blossom Sect, it was small and close by, with little danger, so players could go there themselves.
So the question arose, who was willing to undertake this seemingly great but dangerous trade route team.
